Compositon comprising epdm and a paraffinic oil

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a composition having a ethylene-propylene-diene rubber component and a Fischer-Tropsch derived process oil. The process oil preferably has a flash point of above 260° C. and an evaporation loss at 107° C. during 22 hours of less than 0.05 wt %.

The invention is directed to a composition comprising anethylene-propylene-diene (EPDM) rubber component and a paraffinic oilcomponent.

Such a EPDM containing compositions are well known and are described indetail in Rubber Technology Handbook, Werner Hofmann, Oxford UniversityPress, New York, 1980, paragraph 3.3.8, pages 93-100. Paraffinic oilsare used as platicisers or softening agent in such compositions. Alsocompositions often referred to as thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) or alsosometimes referred to as thermoplastic vulcanisates (TPV) as describedin said Handbook on pages 144-150 and 154-156 comprising EPDM and apolypropylene may comprise paraffinic process oils. Examples of suchcompositions may be found in EP-A-1132242, GB-A-155020, U.S. Pat. No.5,290,886 and EP-A-1028145.

The paraffinic oils commonly used in such applications are eitherhydroprocessed petroleum derived oils, such as the Paralux oils assupplied by Chevron Products Company or synthetic paraffin oils, forexample poly-alpha olefins such as a low weight component ofPoly-ethylene-propylene such as described in EP-A-1028145.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,208,310 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,134,870 describe anelastomer composition containing a paraffinic wax, which according tothe description may be a Fischer-Tropsch derived wax. The addition ofthe wax, which is solid at room temperature, is improved physical andrheological properties.

EP-A-577255 describes an EPDM composition which contain an extender oiland a crystalline paraffin wax. The crystalline wax may be prepared by aFischer-Tropsch process. The paraffinic wax has a melting point ofbetween 60 and 100° C. and is thus solid at room temperature.

Compositions as described above are often used in automotiveapplications, such as parts of the interior of the automobile. There isan increasing demand for low hydrocarbon emissions of an automobile.These hydrocarbon emissions are measured by keeping a complete car at anelevated temperature and detecting any hydrocarbon emissions. In view ofthis development there is an increasing demand for EPDM containingcompositions having a low hydrocarbon emission.

The object of this invention is to provide an EPDM containingcomposition having a low hydrocarbon emission.

This object is achieved by the following composition. A compositioncomprising an ethylene-propylene-diene (EPDM) rubber component and aparaffinic oil component, wherein the paraffinic oil component is aFischer-Tropsch derived process oil.

Applicants have found that a process oil as derived from aFischer-Tropsch synthesis product can be simply obtained havingproperties which lower the hydrocarbon emissions of the finished EPDMcomprising product. Some severely hydroprocessed or synthetic paraffinicprocess oils as described above may also achieve this lower hydrocarbonemission. A disadvantage of these products is that they are either veryexpensive because they have to be synthesized from lower olefins or byheavily hydroprocessing. Another advantage of the Fischer-Tropschderived oils as compared to the heavily hydroprocessed oils is that thelow temperature properties for the higher viscosity grade oils is muchbetter making the Fischer-Tropsch derived oils more easy to handle inthe process to make the EDPM containing product.

The Fischer-Tropsch derived oil preferably has a flash point accordingto ISO 2592 of above 240° C. and more preferably above 260° C. The UVadsorption of the oil at 300 nm is preferably less than 1% and morepreferably less than 0.6% according to ASTM D 2008-A1. The evaporationloss at 107° C. during 22 hours of the oil (according to ASTM D 972 ispreferably less than 0.1 wt % and more preferably less than 0.05 wt %.

The kinematic viscosity at 100° C. of the oil will be resultant from theabove requirements and will usually be above 8 cSt and more preferablyabove 9 cSt. The upper limit is not essential for the hydrocarbonemissions requirements. Nevertheless it is not advantageous to use tooviscous oil for practical processing reasons. Preferably the upper limitwill be around 30 cSt, preferably 25 cSt. The pour point of the processoil will be dependent on the viscosity grade used. Applicants have founda process involving especially a catalytic dewaxing step to prepare aFischer-Tropsch process oil having pour points ranging from −40° C. forthe less viscous grades to around 10° C. for the more viscous grades.This has been found very advantageous because the oil can be used in aliquid state at ambient conditions during the manufacturing of the EPDMcomprising composition. Applicants further found that theFischer-Tropsch derived oil preferably has a CN number as measuredaccording to IEC 590 of between 15 and 30%. The oil is preferably liquidat 20° C.

The process oil is preferably prepared using the below process, by

-   (a) hydrocracking/hydroisomerisating a feed comprising a    Fischer-Tropsch derived feed,-   (b) isolating from the product of step (a) a process oil precursor    fraction,-   (c) dewaxing the process oil precursor fraction obtained in step (b)    to obtain the process oil, optionally after separating a lower    boiling fraction from said dewaxed product.

The Fischer-Tropsch derived feed can be obtained by well-knownprocesses, for example the so-called commercial Sasol process, thecommercial Shell Middle Distillate Process or by the non-commercialExxon process. These and other processes are for example described inmore detail in EP-A-776959, EP-A-668342, U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,672, U.S.Pat. No. 5,059,299, WO-A-9934917 and WO-A-9920720.

A preferred process to prepare the process oil having the desired flashpoint, evaporation loss and CN-number properties involves using aFischer-Tropsch derived feed in step (a) which is characterized in thatthe weight ratio of compounds having at least 60 or more carbon atomsand compounds having at least 30 carbon atoms in the Fischer-Tropschderived-feed is at least 0.2 and wherein at least 30 wt % of compoundsin the Fischer-Tropsch product have at least 30 carbon atoms. Morepreferably the feed has at least 50 wt % and most preferably at least 55wt % of compounds having at least 30 carbon atoms. Furthermore theweight ratio of compounds having at least 60 or more carbon atoms andcompounds having at least 30 carbon atoms of the Fischer-Tropsch derivedfeed is preferably at least 0.4 and more preferably at least 0.55. TheFischer-Tropsch derived feed is preferably derived from aFischer-Tropsch product which comprises a C₂₀+ fraction having anASF-alpha value (Anderson-Schulz-Flory chain growth factor) of at least0.925, preferably at least 0.935, more preferably at least 0.945, evenmore preferably at least 0.955.

The initial boiling point of the Fischer-Tropsch derived feed may rangeup to 400° C., but is preferably below 200° C. Preferably at least anycompounds having 4 or less carbon atoms and any compounds having aboiling point in that range are separated from a Fischer-Tropschsynthesis product before the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis product is usedas a Fischer-Tropsch derived feed in step (a). In addition to thisFischer-Tropsch product also other fractions may be part of theFischer-Tropsch derived feed. Possible other fractions may suitably beany high boiling fraction obtained in step (b).

Such a Fischer-Tropsch derived feed is suitably obtained by aFischer-Tropsch process, which yields a relatively heavy Fischer-Tropschproduct. Not all Fischer-Tropsch processes yield such a heavy product.An example of a suitable Fischer-Tropsch process is described inWO-A-9934917 and in AU-A-698392. These processes may yield aFischer-Tropsch product as described above.

The Fischer-Tropsch derived feed and the resulting waxy raffinateproduct will contain no or very little sulphur and nitrogen containingcompounds. This is typical for a product derived from a Fischer-Tropschreaction, which uses synthesis gas containing almost no impurities.Sulphur and nitrogen levels will generally be below the detectionlimits, which are currently 5 ppm for sulphur and 1 ppm for nitrogen

The Fischer-Tropsch product may optionally be subjected to a mildhydrotreatment step in order to remove any oxygenates and saturate anyolefinic compounds present in the reaction product of theFischer-Tropsch reaction. Such a hydrotreatment is described inEP-B-668342. The mildness of the hydrotreating step is preferablyexpressed in that the degree of conversion in this step is less than 20wt % and more preferably less than 10 wt %. The conversion is heredefined as the weight percentage of the feed boiling above 370° C. thatreacts to a fraction boiling below 370° C. After such a mildhydrotreatment lower boiling compounds, having three or less carbonatoms and other compounds boiling in that range, will preferably beremoved from the effluent before it is used in step (a).

The hydrocracking/hydroisomerisation reaction of step (a) is preferablyperformed in the presence of hydrogen and a catalyst, which catalyst canbe chosen from those known to one skilled in the art as being suitablefor this reaction. Catalysts for use in step (a) typically comprise anacidic functionality and a hydrogenation/dehydrogenation functionality.Preferred acidic functionalities are refractory metal oxide carriers.Suitable carrier materials include silica, alumina, silica-alumina,zirconia, titania and mixtures thereof. Preferred carrier materials forinclusion in the catalyst for use in the process of this invention aresilica, alumina and silica-alumina. A particularly preferred catalystcomprises platinum supported on a silica-alumina carrier. If desired,the acidity of the catalyst carrier may be enhanced by applying ahalogen moiety, in particular fluorine, or a phosphorous moiety to thecarrier. Examples of suitable hydrocracking/hydroisomerisation processesand suitable catalysts are described in WO-A-0014179, EP-A-532118 andthe earlier referred to EP-A-776959.

Preferred hydrogenation/dehydrogenation functionalities are Group VIIImetals, such a nickel, cobalt, iron, palladium and platinum. Preferredare the noble metal Group VIII members, palladium and more preferredplatinum. The catalyst may comprise the more preferred noble metalhydrogenation/dehydrogenation active component in an amount of from0.005 to 5 parts by weight, preferably from 0.02 to 2 parts by weight,per 100 parts by weight of carrier material. A particularly preferredcatalyst for use in the hydroconversion stage comprises platinum in anamount in the range of from 0.05 to 2 parts by weight, more preferablyfrom 0.1 to 1 parts by weight, per 100 parts by weight of carriermaterial. The catalyst may also comprise a binder to enhance thestrength of the catalyst. The binder can be non-acidic. Examples areclays and other binders known to one skilled in the art.

In step (a) the feed is contacted with hydrogen in the presence of thecatalyst at elevated temperature and pressure. The temperaturestypically will be in the range of from 175 to 380° C., preferably higherthan 250° C. and more preferably from 300 to 370° C. The pressure willtypically be in the range of from 10 to 250 bar and preferably between20 and 80 bar. Hydrogen may be supplied at a gas hourly space velocityof from 100 to 10000 Nl/l/hr, preferably from 500 to 5000 Nl/l/hr. Thehydrocarbon feed may be provided at a weight hourly space velocity offrom 0.1 to 5 kg/l/hr, preferably higher than 0.5 kg/l/hr and morepreferably lower than 2 kg/l/hr. The ratio of hydrogen to hydrocarbonfeed may range from 100 to 5000 Nl/kg and is preferably from 250 to 2500Nl/kg.

The conversion in step (a) as defined as the weight percentage of thefeed boiling above 370° C. which reacts per pass to a fraction boilingbelow 370° C., is at least 20 wt %, preferably at least 25 wt %, butpreferably not more than 80 wt %, more preferably not more than 65 wt %.The feed as used above in the definition is the total hydrocarbon feedfed to step (a), thus also any optional recycle of the higher boilingfraction as obtained in step (b).

In step (b) the product of step (a) is preferably separated into one ormore distillate fractions, a process oil precursor fraction, preferablyhaving a T10 wt % boiling point of between 300 and 450° C. A heavyfraction may be separated from the product of step (a) to adjust theresultant viscosity of the process oil. If no heavy fraction is removedthe kinematic viscosity at 100° C. of the process oil may be well above15 cSt. By adjusting the amount and cut point at which the said heavyfraction is separated from the effluent of step (a) process oils can beobtained having a kinematic viscosity at 100° C. ranging from 8 cSt cStto above 25 cSt.

In step (c) the process oil precursor fraction. obtained in step (b) issubjected to a dewaxing treatment wherein the pour point of the oil isreduced. The pour point is preferably reduced by more than 10° C.

Dewaxing can be performed by means of a so-called solvent dewaxingprocess or by means of a catalytic dewaxing process.

Solvent dewaxing is well known to those skilled in the art and involvesadmixture of one or more solvents and/or wax precipitating agents withthe process oil precursor fraction and cooling the mixture to atemperature in the range of from −10° C. to −40° C., preferably in therange of from −20° C. to −35° C., to separate the wax from the oil. Theoil containing the wax is usually filtered through a filter cloth whichcan be made of textile fibres, such as cotton; porous metal cloth; orcloth made of synthetic materials. Examples of solvents which may beemployed in the solvent dewaxing process are C₃-C₆ ketones (e.g. methylethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone and mixtures thereof), C₆-C₁₀aromatic hydrocarbons (e.g. toluene), mixtures of ketones and aromatics(e.g. methyl ethyl ketone and toluene), autorefrigerative solvents suchas liquefied, normally gaseous C₂-C₄ hydrocarbons such as propane,propylene, butane, butylene and mixtures thereof. Mixtures of methylethyl ketone and toluene or methyl ethyl ketone and methyl isobutylketone are generally preferred. Examples of these and other suitablesolvent dewaxing processes are described in Lubricant Base Oil and WaxProcessing, Avilino Sequeira, Jr, Marcel Dekker Inc., New York, 1994,Chapter 7.

Preferably step (c) is performed by means of a catalytic dewaxingprocess. The catalytic dewaxing process can be performed by any processwherein in the presence of a catalyst and hydrogen the pour point of theprocess oil precursor fraction is reduced as specified above. Suitabledewaxing catalysts are heterogeneous catalysts comprising a molecularsieve and optionally in combination with a metal having a hydrogenationfunction, such as the Group VIII metals. Molecular sieves, and moresuitably intermediate pore size zeolites, have shown a good catalyticability to reduce the pour point of the process oil precursor fractionunder catalytic dewaxing conditions. Preferably the intermediate poresize zeolites have a pore diameter of between 0.35 and 0.8 nm. Suitableintermediate pore size zeolites are mordenite, ZSM-5, ZSM-12, ZSM-22,ZSM-23, SSZ-32, ZSM-35 and ZSM-48. Another preferred group of molecularsieves are the silica-aluminaphosphate (SAPO) materials of which SAPO-11is most preferred as for example described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,859,311.ZSM-5 may optionally be used in its HZSM-5 form in the absence of anyGroup VIII metal. The other molecular sieves are preferably used incombination with an added Group VIII metal. Suitable Group VIII metalsare nickel, cobalt, platinum and palladium. Examples of possiblecombinations are Ni/ZSM-5, Pt/ZSM-23, Pd/ZSM-23, Pt/ZSM-48 andPt/SAPO-11. Further details and examples of suitable molecular sievesand dewaxing conditions are for example described in WO-A-9718278, U.S.Pat. No. 5,053,373, U.S. Pat. No. 5,252,527 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,574,043.

The dewaxing catalyst suitably also comprises a binder. The binder canbe a synthetic or naturally occurring (inorganic) substance, for exampleclay, silica and/or metal oxides. Natural occurring clays are forexample of the montmorillonite and kaolin families. The binder ispreferably a porous binder material, for example a refractory oxide ofwhich examples are: alumina, silica-alumina, silica-magnesia,silica-zirconia, silica-thoria, silica-beryllia, silica-titania as wellas ternary compositions for example silica-alumina-thoria,silica-alumina-zirconia, silica-alumina-magnesia andsilica-magnesia-zirconia. More preferably a low acidity refractory oxidebinder material, which is essentially free of alumina, is used. Examplesof these binder materials are silica, zirconia, titanium dioxide,germanium-dioxide, boria and mixtures of two or more of these of whichexamples are listed above. The most preferred binder is silica.

A preferred class of dewaxing catalysts comprise intermediate zeolitecrystallites as described above and a low acidity refractory oxidebinder material which is essentially free of alumina as described above,wherein the surface of the aluminosilicate zeolite crystallites has beenmodified by subjecting the aluminosilicate zeolite crystallites to asurface dealumination treatment. A preferred dealumination treatment isby contacting an extrudate of the binder and the zeolite with an aqueoussolution of a fluorosilicate salt as described in for example U.S. Pat.No. 5,157,191 or WO-A-0029511. Examples of suitable dewaxing catalystsas described above are silica bound and dealuminated Pt/ZSM-5, silicabound and dealuminated Pt/ZSM-23, silica bound and dealuminatedPt/ZSM-12, silica bound and dealuminated Pt/ZSM-22, as for exampledescribed in WO-A-0029511 and EP-B-832171.

Catalytic dewaxing conditions are known in the art and typically involveoperating temperatures in the range of from 200 to 500° C., suitablyfrom 250 to 400° C., hydrogen pressures in the range of from 10 to 200bar, preferably from 40 to 70 bar, weight hourly space velocities (WHSV)in the range of from 0.1 to 10 kg of oil per litre of catalyst per hour(kg/l/hr), suitably from 0.2 to 5 kg/l/hr, more suitably from 0.5 to 3kg/l/hr and hydrogen to oil ratios in the range of from 100 to 2,000litres of hydrogen per litre of oil. By varying the temperature between315 and 375° C. at between 40-70 bars, in the catalytic dewaxing step itis possible to prepare base oils having different pour pointspecifications varying from suitably −10 to −60° C.

Optionally a lower boiling fraction is separated from the oil asobtained after dewaxing. The need to separate a fraction will bedetermined by the properties of the process oil precursor fraction usedin step (c) and the dewaxing process used. For example a catalyticdewaxing step will suitably require such a separation because lowerboiling fractions are formed in the dewaxing process, which need to beremoved in order to achieve the volatility requirements of the processoil used in the present invention.

The process oil may be subjected to a hydrofinishing step or anadsorption step in order to improve its colour properties. Adsorptionmay be performed by contacting the oil with a suitable heterogeneousadsorbents, for example active carbon, zeolites, for example naturalfaujasite, or synthetic materials such as ferrierite, ZSM-5, faujasite,mordenite, metal oxides such as silica powder, silica gel, aluminiumoxyde and various clays, for example Attapulgus clay (hydrousmagnesium-aluminium silicate), Porocel clay (hydrated aluminium oxide).A preferred adsorbent is activated carbon.

A hydrofinishing step is suitably carried out at a temperature between180 and 380° C., a total pressure of between 10 to 250 bar andpreferably above 100 bar and more preferably between 120 and 250 bar.The WHSV (Weight hourly space velocity) ranges from 0.3 to 2 kg of oilper litre of catalyst per hour (kg/l.h).

The hydrogenation catalyst is suitably a supported catalyst comprising adispersed Group VIII metal. Possible Group VIII metals are cobalt,nickel, palladium and platinum. Cobalt and nickel containing catalystsmay also comprise a Group VIB metal, suitably molybdenum and tungsten.Suitable carrier or support materials are amorphous refractory oxides.Examples of suitable amorphous refractory oxides include inorganicoxides, such as alumina, silica, titania, zirconia, boria,silica-alumina, fluorided alumina, fluorided silica-alumina and mixturesof two or more of these.

Examples of suitable hydrogenation catalysts are nickel-molybdenumcontaining catalyst such as KF-847 and KF-8010 (AKZO Nobel) M-8-24 andM-8-25 (BASF), and C-424, DN-190, HDS-3 and HDS-4 (Criterion);nickel-tungsten containing catalysts such as NI-4342 and NI-4352(Engelhard) and C-454 (Criterion); cobalt-molybdenum containingcatalysts such as KF-330 (AKZO-Nobel), HDS-22 (Criterion) and HPC-601(Engelhard). Preferably platinum containing and more preferably platinumand palladium containing catalysts are used. Preferred supports forthese palladium and/or platinum containing catalysts are amorphoussilica-alumina. Examples of suitable silica-alumina carriers aredisclosed in WO-A-9410263. A preferred catalyst comprises an alloy ofpalladium and platinum preferably supported on an amorphoussilica-alumina carrier of which the commercially available catalystC-624 and C-654 of Criterion Catalyst Company (Houston, Tex.) areexamples.

The content of the Fischer-Tropsch derived paraffinic process oil in thecomposition according to the present invention will depend on thedesired properties of the end product and on the other components of thecomposition. The oil is usually applied as platiciser. Typical rangesare mentioned in the above referred to patent applications. Typicallythe content of the paraffinic process oil may be between 1 and 60 wt %,of the composition.

The composition may have the same composition as a commercial EPDMrubber wherein as the paraffinic oil the Fischer-Tropsch derived processoil is present. Examples of commercial EPDM rubbers are the KELTAN EPDMrubbers from DSM Elastomers, the VISTALON EPDM rubbers from ExxonMobilChemical and DUTRAL EPDM rubbers from Enichem. (KELTAN, VISTALON, DUTRALare trademarks)

The composition may also be a thermoplastic vulcanisate compositioncomprising an ethylene-propylene-diene rubber component and apoly-olefin component. The poly-alpha olefin is preferablypolypropylene. Such compositions combines the elastic properties of arubber with the processing characteristics of a thermoplast. Thecomposition comprises preferably EPDM particles embedded in apolypropylene (PP) matrix. The PP phase presents the processingbehaviour of a PP, while the cured EPDM rubber provides excellentelastic properties. The composition may have the same composition as acommercial TPE composition, wherein as the paraffinic oil theFischer-Tropsch derived process oil is present. Example of commercialthermoplastic vulcanisate are the KELTAN EPDM or SARLINK TPV series fromDSM Elastomers (SARLINK is a trademark).

The below example will illustrate the preparation of a Fischer-Tropschprocess oil having the desired properties for use in a compositionaccording to the invention.

EXAMPLE 1

The C₅-C₇₅₀ ° C.⁺ fraction of the Fischer-Tropsch product, as obtainedin Example VII using the catalyst of Example III of WO-A-9934917, wascontinuously fed to a hydrocracking step (step (a)). The feed containedabout 60 wt % C30+ product. The ratio C₆₀₊/C₃₀₊ was about 0.55. In thehydrocracking step the fraction was contacted with a hydrocrackingcatalyst of Example 1 of EP-A-532118. The effluent of step (a) wascontinuously distilled under vacuum to give lights, fuels and a residue“R” boiling from 370° C. and above. The yield of gas oil fraction onfresh feed to hydrocracking step was 43 wt %. The properties of the gasoil thus obtained are presented in Table 3.

The main part of the residue “R” was recycled to step (a) and aremaining part was sent to a catalytic dewaxing step (c). The conditionsin the hydrocracking step (a) were: a fresh feed Weight Hourly SpaceVelocity (WHSV) of 0.8 kg/l.h, recycle feed WHSV of 0.25 kg/l.h,hydrogen gas rate=1000 Nl/kg, total pressure=40 bar, and a reactortemperature of 335° C.

In the dewaxing step, the fraction described above boiling from 370° C.to above 750° C. was contacted with a dealuminated silica bound ZSM-5catalyst comprising 0.7% by weight Pt and 30 wt % ZSM-5 as described inExample 9 of WO-A-0029511. The dewaxing conditions were 40 bar hydrogen,WHSV=1 kg/l.h and a temperature of 365° C.

The dewaxed oil was distilled into a process oil fraction boiling above510° C. and a fraction boiling below said fraction. The yield of processoil based on feed to dewaxing step was 27.9 wt %. The process oil(Process oil-1) was analyzed in more detail and the properties arelisted in Table 1.

EXAMPLE 2

A Shell MDS Waxy raffinate was contacted with a dealuminated silicabound ZSM-5 catalyst comprising 0.7% by weight Pt and 30 wt % ZSM-5 asdescribed in Example 9 of WO-A-0029511. The dewaxing conditions were 40bar hydrogen, WHSV=1 kg/l.h and a temperature of 345° C.

The dewaxed oil was distilled into a process oil fraction (Process oil2) boiling having an initial boiling point as 466° C. and a 90 wt %boiling point of 567° C. The yield of process oil on waxy raffinate feedwas 12.3 wt %. Other properties of the process oil are listed inTable 1. TABLE 1 Process Process oil-1 oil-2 density at 20° C. 837.0831.5 pour point (° C.) +9 −39 kinematic viscosity at 40° C. (cSt) 56.6kinematic viscosity at 100° C. (cSt) 22.92 9.1 VI 178 139 sulphurcontent (% w) <0.001 <0.001 Flash point (° C.) (ISO 2592) >300 276 UVabsorption at 300 nm (ASTM D <0.6 <0.6 2008-Al) Evaporation loss at 107°C. <0.05 <0.05 after 22 hours (ASTM D 972) CN number (IEC 590) Not 18.6measured

1. A composition comprising an ethylene-propylene-diene rubbercomponent: and, a process oil having a kinematic viscosity at 100° C.greater than 8 cSt and a pour point of below 10° C. wherein the processoil is obtained by a process comprising: (a)hydrocracking/hydroisomerizing a feed comprising a Fischer-Tropschsynthesis product; (b) isolating from the product of step (a) a processoil precursor fraction; and, (c) dewaxing the process oil precursorfraction obtained in step (b) to obtain the process oil.
 2. Thecomposition of claim 1, wherein the process oil has a flash point ofabove 260° C. according to ISO
 2592. 3. The composition of claim 1,wherein the UV adsorption of the process oil at 300 nm is less than 0.6%according to ASTM D 2008-A1.
 4. The composition of claim 1, wherein theevaporation loss of the process oil at 107° C. during 22 hours is lessthan 0.05 wt % according to ASTM D
 972. 5. The composition of claim 1,wherein the kinematic viscosity at 100° C. greater than 9 cSt.
 6. Thecomposition of claim 1, wherein step (c) is performed by solventdewaxing.
 7. The composition of claim 1, wherein step (c) is performedby catalytic dewaxing.
 8. The composition of claim 1, wherein theconversion in step (a) is between 25 and 65 wt %.
 9. The composition ofclaim 1, wherein the composition furthermore comprises a poly-olefincomponent.
 10. The composition of claim 9, wherein the poly-olefin ispolypropylene